Third Annual BeWell Miami Youth Mental Health Summit
Sunday, November 1 | 12:30 PM-5 PM
Full Detailed Schedule Coming SoonKeynote Presentation: From Algorithms to Emotions: Youth Mental Health in a Digital World
Join renowned developmental psychologist and parenting expert Dr. Aliza Pressman, host of the Raising Good Humans podcast, author of the New York Times bestseller The Five Principles of Parenting and the forthcoming book The Orchid Code, and digital wellness entrepreneur Larz May for an engaging conversation exploring how technology, AI, and social media are shaping young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Designed for teens, college students, parents, and professionals alike, the conversation will blend research, real-world perspectives, and practical strategies to help us all navigate the digital world with greater confidence, resilience, and connection.
Adult Breakout Session Descriptions and Presenters
Facilitated by: Monica Wagenberg & Dr. Jessica Dahan
Description: Learn practical, low-pressure strategies for creating meaningful conversations with teens. Explore what helps teens feel comfortable opening up, recognize common communication habits that can unintentionally shut conversations down, and gain simple, ready-to-use phrases and techniques to strengthen trust and connection. Co-facilitated by a seasoned educator and an experienced mental health professional—both mothers as well—this workshop will blend professional expertise with real-life perspective to create an engaging, relatable, and insightful conversation about communicating with the teens in our lives.
Professional Only Breakout: Who We Are in the Room: Authenticity, Identity, and the Therapeutic Relationship
Facilitated by: Dr. Melissa Spann
Description: This interactive session explores authenticity as a powerful therapeutic tool, with particular attention to body image and eating disorder treatment. Participants will examine how trust, attunement, appropriate vulnerability, thoughtful self-disclosure, and awareness of identity can deepen the therapeutic relationship while maintaining effective clinical boundaries. The session will also consider how culture, values, family, community, belonging, and Jewish identity may enter the therapy room and influence both suffering and healing. Through clinical examples, reflection, and discussion, participants will leave with practical strategies for integrating authenticity into evidence-based care to strengthen connection and support meaningful change.
Facilitated by: Jami Young, LCSW and Michael Panzeca
Description: Life can feel like a lot—and parenting is no exception! And, sometimes the best coping skill is being able to laugh at yourself or the situation. In this interactive workshop, explore how humor can help shift your perspective, ease tension, strengthen connection, and navigate stressful parenting moments with a little more laughter and a lot less pressure. Join two experienced facilitators who bring together clinical expertise and a background in comedy for this lively, experiential breakout session. Get ready to participate, laugh, and leave with practical tools you can use in everyday parenting—and in life.
Description: Food has a powerful way of connecting us to memories, traditions, and one another—whether it’s a beloved holiday dish made by a grandparent, an unforgettable meal from a special trip, challah on Friday night, or Sunday-morning pancakes with family. Led by Chef Yaniv Cohen, this interactive session will invite participants to explore the vibrant world of spices while discovering how cooking can promote mindfulness, creativity, connection, and emotional well-being. Participants will reflect on the ways food and the kitchen can help us feel grounded, nurture a sense of belonging, and support both our mental and physical health. The program was developed in collaboration with Miami-based nonprofit I AM – Rising Together and its Israeli partner, Reviv, in our sister city of Yeruham. Each participant will create a personal spice blend to take home—a meaningful reminder of food’s power to comfort us, connect us with ourselves and others, and nourish our overall well-being.
Student Breakout Session Descriptions and Presenters
Move, Connect, Create: The WAO Experience
Facilitated by: Lucia Toer
Description: Through mindful movement, partner exercises, and collective creation, participants will explore the WAO Method: I + II + ALL. Participants begin by connecting with themselves and the present moment, then build meaningful connections with others through movement, interactive exercises, and shared experiences. Finally, the group will come together to create a WAO Human Installation—an expressive collective work that could not exist without each person’s individual contribution. This interactive experience highlights the powerful connection between creativity, well-being, community, and belonging.
My Brain Has 20 Tabs Open: Finding Calm in the Chaos
Facilitated by: Mercedes Ben moha
Description: What do you do when everything feels important, everyone needs something from you, and your brain has 20 tabs open at once? This interactive, experiential session invites participants to step into the chaos and discover what it takes to put things back in order. Through a hands-on challenge, we’ll explore how we prioritize competing demands, distinguish between what is urgent and what is truly important, recognize what is within our control, and make space for our own wellbeing. Participants will leave with practical strategies to manage overwhelm, make intentional choices, and protect their mental and emotional health in everyday life.
Developing Media Intelligence: Don’t Get Played
Facilitated by Stephanie Africk and Genevieve Rossi of HonestReporting
Description: In this session, participants will learn how to look beyond headlines and critically evaluate the media they consume. We’ll explore how framing, language, imagery, bias, and AI shape the way stories about Israel are told and understood. We’ll examine what gets emphasized, what gets left out, and how narratives can influence our perception before we even realize it. Participants will learn to recognize manipulation, question what they see and share, and identify the growing role of AI in shaping information. We’ll also consider how to stay informed without letting the constant news cycle take a toll on our mental health. Participants will leave with practical tools to become more thoughtful, confident, and discerning consumers of media.
Description: Food has a powerful way of connecting us to memories, traditions, and one another—whether it’s a beloved holiday dish made by a grandparent, an unforgettable meal from a special trip, challah on Friday night, or Sunday-morning pancakes with family. Led by Chef Yaniv Cohen, this interactive session will invite participants to explore the vibrant world of spices while discovering how cooking can promote mindfulness, creativity, connection, and emotional well-being. Participants will reflect on the ways food and the kitchen can help us feel grounded, nurture a sense of belonging, and support both our mental and physical health. The program was developed in collaboration with Miami-based nonprofit I AM – Rising Together and its Israeli partner, Reviv, in our sister city of Yeruham. Each participant will create a personal spice blend to take home—a meaningful reminder of food’s power to comfort us, connect us with ourselves and others, and nourish our overall well-being.
